Swim test required unless the rower wears a life-jacket. Need to schedule a Swim Test?Click here
Oakland Aquatics will schedule a free test for all LMRC rowers! They will even teach you to swim and they offer scholarships to anyone who needs financial assistance with lessons. Just submit this form.

Meet the Coaches

Chris Dadd – Co-Head Coach (Tuesdays):

Chris Dadd is the Coach of the Masters Women’s Team at LMRC, which he started coaching in 2010, and he runs the LMRC Summer Youth Rowing Program as he has for two decades. He is the head coach of the men’s crew at Berkeley High School where he started coaching in 1999, and he is an instructor at the Open Water Rowing Center where he’s taught since 1993.

After graduating from Berkeley High School (class of 1976), Chris first learned to row with the Humboldt State University Lightweight Men’s Crew. He later returned to the Bay Area and raised a family while obtaining a Masters Degree in Kinesiology from the California State University at Hayward. He also joined the Lake Merritt Rowing Club and Open Water Rowing Center where he’s rowed for decades.

Brandon Caesar- Co-Head Coach (Wednesdays):
When not in Vietnam, Brandon lives in Berkeley with his wife and two sons. In addition to coaching this youth program and frequently coaching the Summer Youth Rowing program at the Lake Merritt Rowing Club, Brandon also coaches for the East Bay Rowing Club and is the men’s rowing coach at Oakland Tech High School.

He started rowing at Berkeley High School in 1999 and joined the Lake Merritt Rowing Club in 2000. After high school he continued to row at Orange Coast College and Washington State University where he graduated in 2009. Brandon has coached the LMRC Summer Youth Rowing program on nine different summers and has also coached three full years for the men’s crew at Berkeley High School. Unrelated to that he’s also fluent in Vietnamese.